Bush Reaches Agreement

The Brewers have signed Dave Bush, avoiding an arby hearing.

I share the view of many bloggers: Bush may be dealt closer to the end of spring training, assuming health by the other members of the pitching staff. Or does this push Suppan to the bullpen as the last swing-man arm? Does Attanasio eat the last year of Soup's contract? Either way, the Crew has a buttload of cash tied up in pitching this year.

PBA History for Kulick

Congratulations to Kelly Kulick for becoming the first female to win on the PBA Tour. That's what makes bowling so great... anyone can literally beat anyone at any time. In this case, Kulick earned it by continually pounding the pocket and making several pressure shots.

I'm a sucker for historical victories.

EDIT: If the USBC & PBA were smart they would send Kulick on a two-week publicity tour. I would think Ellen will jump on this like a fat kid in shark-infested waters. The beauty of bowling as a sport is anyone can beat anyone, at any time, young or old, good or bad. Kulick is a great ambassador for a sport that could use some mainstream PR. BTW, ESPN will re-air the finals tonight at 8pmEST on Classic.

Yount On Steroid Talk

We all know Yount was a hell of a ballplayer, but he's also a pretty good man. Well spoken words on the recent McGwire bashing.

To paraphrase some of his commments, it's easy to take the high road when you no longer play the game, but situations reversed, no one can say what they would or wouldn't have done to keep up with the Joneses. Do I like that some great baseball memories from the last 10-15 years are shrouded in doubt? Of course not. But that's the place we are now as fans of the sport. Does it change my love of the game? Heck no. Besides, I'm about done with the steroids b.s. When the Steelers win the Lombardi Trophy, do they qualify it with "but a lot of the team was on 'roids in the 70's"? It's long overdue to move on.

History will put this era in context, as it always does in MLB.

McCalvy on Fielder

Interesting story at Brewers.com, basically outlining the current status & speculating on Fielder's free agency in '12.

I've been back and forth on the issue myself, as Braun & Prince make a heckuva couple, but regardless of what the Crew reinvests into the team, I just don't see any way they don't flip him in '11. Unless they're in serious contention in 2011 & say damn the torpedoes and take the draft picks at year's end (a development I highly doubt would occur). I suppose they could pull another 2-year deal to buy out one season of FA.

Much has been made of Fielder's "body type" in the past, which traditionally breaks down as the clock turns 30. Could the Crew try to lock him up until age 29, then part ways? Would Boras allow himself to break from past processes and do another 2-year? I wish I knew.

Coffey Signs

The Crew avoided arbitration by signing Todd Coffey today. The deal essentially settles at the mid-point of the exchanged arby figures (which is usually how these things turn out, making the arbitration process one in which teams overspend to stay out of the panel process).

Coffey was outstanding for the Brewers in '09, but one has to wonder about a repeat since they rode him like a whipped mule much of the time.

The bullpen now sports quite a bit of money between Hoffman, Riske, Hawkins, & Coffey. I'm left to wonder if there were more cost-effective pieces already in the system.

Sharpie Back With MIL

Welcome back, Double-D.

This puts the rotation at Gallardo, Wolf, Bush, Davis, Manny/Soup. Does Bush get packaged? Does Manny go down to AAA (I believe he has options left)? Does Soup go in a salary dump-ish move? Or none of the above.

Regardless, Melvin & Co. have done an admirable job of adressing the Crew's biggest weakness from a year ago.

Brown Wins in MA

Well said.

Pushing agenda's through against the will of the people is never a good idea. I've long said this health care reform should be more about overhauling the health care system, not socializing the country. Costs are running rampant to the point that those with health care can barely afford to use it, much less those without it.

I guess we'll find out why our founding fathers settled on 4-year terms. Obama has the chance to bring about change, for both himself and the USA. Let's hope it's good change.

Overfluffing Your Ben Sheets

Let me say this up front: I don't think Benny is necessarily injury-prone. He's had some of the strangest injuries; an inner-ear infection, then a recurrence of the same thing later, the torn latissimus dorsi muscle, the torn finger tendon.

But I can't imagine the flavor of Kool-Aid he and his agent are consuming if they're asking for this. $10 mil with incentives, then a player-controlled option? Yikes! Now, obviously, this is out of the Brewer's range and I don't get the feeling the two sides left on the best of terms, but, again, I'm sure one of the large market teams may actually acquiesce to these demands.

We all know Sheeter can be dominant, but I only see a handful of teams being able to swallow that cash if the deal goes bad.

8. Brewers. For all the second-guessing over the near $30-million, three-year contract Randy Wolf, he is just what they needed. Though, they probably need one more pitcher. They remain in the hunt for Jarrod Washburn or Doug Davis and probably will also give former A's star Mark Mulder a shot, as well. - Heyman's top 10 offseasons over at SI.Com.

I agree the Crew has gotten better on the pitching end. Whether a Mulder signing will pay any dividends is fractional. One of the trio of Washburn/Davis/Garland may be out of the price range. Plus, with no one willing to take on Suppan, that may mean Bush would be part of a swap (hopefully, his arm is healed after that microtear last year).

What Heyman doesn't mention is the loss of Cameron's power from the CF spot. One thing is for sure, though: The Crew will be sporting some team speed (Gomez, Hart, Weeks, Braun, Escobar). Whether or not Macha chooses to use it, and use it correctly, is another question.

Brewers Held Up As Example

This, ladies & gentlemen, is why Mr. Attanasio is has quickly become a WI favorite.

"To make their point, they have cited the Milwaukee Brewers, whose owner Mark Attanasio has taken their payroll to over $80 million the last couple of seasons - and been rewarded by attendances of more than three million for the first time in their history the past two seasons. Not bad for the smallest media market in baseball." - New York Daily News

I, for one, would like to thank you, Mark.

Bertrand Berry Fined

That sounds about right.

Again, I'm not naive to the fact the Packers gave up 51 points or that Rodgers missed a wide open Jennings... but in an age when quarterbacks may as well have flags on their hips, missing this call is a bigger transgression than the hotly debated final play.

Braun Best Against Best

Folks, all I have to say to this is "Yikes!" (original column at ESPN Insider) - Tip O' the brim to Bernie's Crew for the synopsis.

Enjoy this young man, Wisconsin, he won't be around forever. Let's count our lucky stars we got him for a pittance of a price for his talent until '15.

EDIT: Tom has the story at the JSOnline

Say It Ain't S... Oh, Never Mind

Mark McGwire admits to steroids.

In other news, grass is green, the sky is blue, and Milli Vanilli lip-synched.

Shocking revelations, I'm sure.

Defensive POY

Ladies & Gentlemen, your NFL Defensive Player Of The Year... Charles Woodson.

Congratulations, Charles, you are a joy to watch. I was at the Dallas-Green Bay game in November this year and could've sworn there were 11 Woodson's on defense that day.

"It's tough for me to look at Holliday's deal with the Cards and think it's way too much for far too long...and what a tremendous bargain the Brewers have with Ryan Braun." - Al's Ramblings

My wife and I were talking last night about the Cards paying that much for Holliday & what it will mean when they give Pujols the farm. The first comment out of her mouth echoed Al's... Braunie is an absolute steal.

Bill (clap, clap) Hall To BoSox

"something they could do with the $7-8M received from the Brewers when they dealt for Hall last summer" - WEEI.com

Maybe I'm reading too much into this comment, but I recall Al speculating that Hall's remaining contract may well have been added to last year's budget. This comment seems to reinforce that notion.

Cards Sign Holliday

This'll make for a lot of firepower. Remember when Pujols needed to carry the lineup alone? Not anymore.

Just think, when Pujols comes up for his contract, this one will look small.

A little personal blurb... today marks the 2nd anniversary of quitting smoking. I did it cold turkey, without counseling or hypnosis, or that horrific tasting "gum" they try to push on people.

My advice is two-fold: Decide on the times you smoke the most and focus on changing that. Second, stay away from smokers, bars, alcohol, and such for at least a month after deciding to quit.

I never thought I would have the ability to do it, yet here I am.

Arbitration Begins

Today is the first day for arbitration filings. What this means for the Crew is in the next week or so, Doug should have a better idea what he has left to allocate to the 2010 team.

As KL Snow notes in Tuesday's Frosty Mug, if Rosenthal and Haudricourt are correct, there should be plenty of competition for innings in the Brewers rotation next year.

Woodson / Matthews

While Darrelle Revis is a phenomenal cover-corner, it's hard to argue against Charles Woodson for Defensive POY. He's played all over the field, covered everyone short of St. Peter, and been a force since Harris went down with injury.

Clay Matthews looks to have a good view of some hardware, too. Since getting regular playing time, he's been an animal. It's been a while since the Pack has had a linebacker with his kind of motor.